Chapter 65 – One Man Legion (1)

Jin-hyuk nodded his head as if he was satisfied.

“Thank you for giving me useful information. It really helped me a lot.”

He had obtained information that was useful for planning. Some of his doubts had also cleared up.

“Can I go then?”

Melena asked with fear and worry on her face.

“No.”

“Y-you said… you’ll spare me if I tell you what I know. You said you will send me away!’

“Don’t worry. I will keep my promise.”

He had no intention of killing people carelessly after they had proven useful.

Why would he throw away a useful piece after a single use?

He could use her again in the future.

“I just need you to promise me one thing.”

“Promise?”

“Right. Promise.”

Not with her mouth or a pinky promise, but an absolute promise. An oath on her soul.

[Lv3 Stigma of the Soul is activated!]
Jin-hyuk’s fingers shone brightly.

“It is a sign that you must obey my words unconditionally in the future. If you try to backstab me or rebel, you will die, so make the decision carefully.”

She could choose to either die.

Or obey.

Only two choices.

And Melena…

“I… don’t want to die.”

She chose to survive.

After that harsh first night.

The warm sunlight shone down on the campsite.

“Hmm.”

Jin-hyuk stretched out his body and got up. Such a refreshing morning. It felt as if the fatigue he had accumulated was now gone.

Everything had worked out easier than he expected last night. Thanks to nutritional supplements, his condition also felt like it was at its peak.

‘It’s fine now for me to go all out.’

In the last boss raid that remained, there would be a hectic fight incomparable to anything he had done in the past.

‘It would be more of a war than a fight.’

Jin-hyuk calmly reviewed the overall plan of the raid he had in his head. Of course, even the slightest deviation would cause issues.

He further optimized his planned movements and considered any other variables that could break his assumptions to bring some control to a potentially complicated situation.

In fact, he considered himself prepared for everything that might come up.

How many minutes had passed?

Finally, Jin-hyuk opened his eyes. Suddenly, in his hand, was the key he had gotten from the named monster.

Ah, wait, before going for the boss.

‘I almost forgot.’

There was something he had to do.

Jin-hyuk activated the ‘broadcast system.’

[Welcome to ‘Chanel Unknown’]
Various categories were listed on the menu.

What he had to write was a notice.

[Boss raid will not be streamed. I’ll edit it later and upload the attack video, so those who want can see it.]
It was simple and short notice.

‘Well, I drew enough attention, so there is no need to go live until the final fights.’

His purpose was to increase the number of views on the eventual video and raise awareness for the Unknown channel. He had no plans of collecting a peanut gallery.

Within a minute of the notice being posted, dozens of comments appeared.

It seemed like a lot of people were looking forward to the content.

-IssueTeller: I saw the notice. He said he would start broadcasting soon. Is he going to give us an amazing one?
-NutellaTheBesst: Besides, does this mean that the attack was successful? Well, if he died, no one can put up the notice, so, lol
-BaeksuOverTusu: It must be because of his confidence. He wrote this for those who didn’t see the stream yesterday. Those who didn’t watch and don’t believe just shut it.
-VeternaIdentification: I saw him yesterday. He was completely amazing.
-MemoriesOfDiablo3: It’s almost at the level of making the production team lose their hair. But could he succeed where the large guilds couldn’t?
-MadMovie: How can one person take down a monster with a thousand eyes and a thousand hands by themself?
-SaeYoungEonHwan: I look forward to seeing how the boss is defeated.
Everyone was making up their own theories and debating what was trustworthy or not.

‘I need to pay more attention to this.’

A successful raid was a natural factor, but he needed a good script and potentially important people to join him for his long-term success.

And of course.

Jin-hyuk had a way of satisfying all of those.

‘Then, let’s start slowly.’

Jin-hyuk reached out in front of him while holding the key.

It was an empty space with nothing, but the moment the key came in contact with a point in it.

Clack!

There was a sound of something clicking.

[The ‘Key of the Stone Statue’ responds!]
[The master of the 3rd floor has answered your call!]
At the same time, two red status windows appeared.

Kukukuku!

A humongous gate began to manifest in front of him. Its size was incomparable to the gate that had ushered in the unnamed monster yesterday.

“Oh…”

Even Jin-hyuk couldn’t hide his reaction.

It was so wide that its ends were hidden by the bamboo forest. Its height was so tall that it felt like it pierced the sky.

And soon…

Thud! Thud! Thud!

A large number of stone statues appeared from beyond the gate. It was an army of 3,000.

Most of them were heavy soldiers of 1 meter in height, though a few reached a monstrous length of 50 meters.

And in the center of this formation was a stone statue that was most splendidly carved.

That thing was the master of the 3rd floor.

To be precise, it was the thing yawning from atop the stone statue.

“Hmm. Is it just one challenger this time?”

A familiar voice spoke out from atop the statue.

Jittery!

Goosebumps rose up on Jin-hyuk’s skin.

As expected.

‘Is this the magic of a boss monster?’

The boss monster of the 3rd floor had relatively weak magic for its level. This was because most of its magic was dispersed across the many stone statues under its control.

Still, its presence was enough to make his body heavy.

As expected of a boss monster.

Jin-hyuk glanced at the opponent through the Eye of Gluttony.

But…

[Status window cannot be viewed due to the extreme level difference with the target.]
What came back was an expected phrase, but then.

[Luck and adaptive stats have neutralized the level difference]
[Looking through the status window of the target.]
Two status windows appeared.

‘Did the Luck stat, which failed yesterday, work now?’

Jin-hyuk cheered a little.

Name: Soulless
Age: Unknown
Level: 105
Strength 72 Agility 101 Stamina 79 Magic 93 Karma 128
Unique ability: Heartless Army
Skills: Lv17 Desire of Heaven, Lv15 Group Command, Lv14 Identify Weakness, Lv14 Military Strategy
—

[Copy Condition: Since Mandala is below level 15, it is impossible to copy the unique ability or skill of Soulless]
The various raids from the guilds had come here and simply fed the monster with kills. Considering that it would take over a year for an average player to get a three-digit stat, this was fast.

‘Is this why no one was confident of clearing it?’

A boss from the 3rd floor was easy as shit when compared to the dragons on the upper floor. But this wasn’t too bad.

‘In other words… it means that I should be careful.’

Besides, the stronger the enemy, the more satisfied his subscribers would feel.

Jin-hyuk smiled.

“You’re laughing?”

“Ah, sorry. I was thinking about something else. So, what was the question you asked?”

“I asked if you were here alone?”

“Well, as you can see. Unlike a certain someone, I don’t hide behind subordinates.”

Jin-hyuk said.

The eyes of his opponent narrowed at these words. It was a slight change of expression on that face that was full of pride.

But it was only for a short time.

Its shaky pupils soon regained their composure.

“I am sorry, but I dislike using my body. Isn’t it the virtue of a monarch to rule over others and order them?”

Such a leisurely response.

No, it would be more accurate to call it a response that took the utmost effort to look relaxed. No matter how much it had leveled up.

‘That sense of entitlement that comes from not being strong alone hasn’t changed.’

So it seemed like this wasn’t perfect either.

Everyone has at least one gap that can be dug into.

“Well, I think the virtue of a monarch is to be at the forefront of the fight and not hiding behind.”

“It is precisely because of those idiots that wars end in vain. When the commander who leads the troops dies alone, the soldiers behind get annihilated. You don’t seem to know even the basics?”

He wasn’t wrong.

But,

“Isn’t it enough to just not die at the forefront in a fight?”

He couldn’t understand people who thought death was a given simply because you are at the front. There was no better way to raise the morale of those who followed you than by leading from the front.

“… it is absurd. Does that mean that you have the power to do that?”

“Yes.”

If it was impossible, he wouldn’t be here.

And he wouldn’t have gathered all the things he needed for victory by struggling for many hours.

Jin-hyuk then began to gather up his magic.

“It seems that you are confident in the battle between troops… I personally like melee battles quite a bit.”

So let’s stick together.

One of them would have to die to prove who was right.

After those words, the strange-looking chessboard appeared from his subspace inventory.

[The ‘First Chessboard’ has been activated!]
Tsss!

Blue lines began to draw shapes along the ground. Lines upon lines that met to make square plates.

It all proceeded as planned, and then…

Jin-hyuk took the statues that he had received from Lee Yuri. They were thousands of chess pieces carved from marble.

Of course, there weren’t just pieces or toys to be played on a board.

They were works of art sculpted by Summoner Lee Yuri and imbued with magic through engraved runes. Each chess piece would fulfill its role as a soldier.

“The idea is novel. If that’s the way it is, I’d be able to play as a soldier myself.”

Seeing the chess pieces laid out on the board, Soulless looked interested.

However, after a brief moment of surprise came words of ridicule

“What are you going to do with those little stones?”

“Wait and see. It isn’t over yet.”

Just shut your mouth and don’t say anything.

Jin-hyuk pulled out another item that would flourish the ending. It was an item that he had obtained after tricking Anubis on the first underground level of the Tower of Trials.

[‘Giant Pill’ has been used.]
A giant pill.

The pills he had collected in large quantities were being infused into the body of the chess pieces.

And…

Kukuku!

The chess pieces, which had been less than 10 centimeters tall, began to expand.

Knights, bishops, and rooks standing 2 meters tall were now lined up.

In front of them were the pawns armed with heavy armor and spears. The chess pieces no longer looked like toys.

Looking at the majestic appearance of his soldiers, who would laugh now?

Did it finally realize the situation? The smile on its face had vanished entirely.

Gulp.

Soulless grit its teeth.

“… You.”

He had thought that the human was just another fly.

Just another mortal that would be trampled down with a gesture.

But not anymore.

The human, who should be the most insignificant thing here, now had a large army that couldn’t be ignored.